Crack Kale Salad

Monday is delivery day for us from SLO Veg. That means a whole box of fresh fruits and veggies to fit into the refrigerator day-after-tomorrow. So today I decided to use up most of whatever veggies had not yet disappeared from last week's box. There were some red potatoes...and that kale was still hanging around in the frig from last week's box. Actually, there were two kinds of kale, and one was two weeks old (from the previous box). Dang that stuff has a long refrigerated shelf life. MAYbe I should use it up?

I quickly made a dinner plan: kale salad, roasted potatoes, bacon-wrapped chicken marinated in beer, and garlic bread. The only things I needed from the store were chicken thighs and bread. 

Okay, so I pulled out the kale and inspected it. The curly kale that had been in the frig for two weeks was mostly good, with just a few leaves that needed to be cut out. The Lacinto kale that we just got this week was really dark green and crispy. I trimmed off all the stems and center ribs and gave it all a good washing in my salad spinner. Then I sliced it into 1/4" ribbons for the salad. I found a recipe I liked with a simple lemon juice and olive oil dressing. I jazzed it up a little after I tasted it, because it REALLY made me pucker! So I added a teaspoon of sugar, a splash of apple juice and some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. I poured the dressing over the kale and let it all meld together in a glass mixing bowl.

Meanwhile, I sliced up a nice, crispy apple into long strips and added it to the salad bowl. I wanted the lemon juice to coat the apple pieces so they would stay fresh looking. Then I mixed in some toasted almonds, raisins and some shaved Parmesan cheese.

The salad was a side dish for tonight's dinner which consisted of bacon-wrapped chicken breasts, roasted red potatoes and sourdough garlic bread. As you can see from the bottom photo, none went to waste.

Crack Kale Salad
 (very addicting!)

Dressing:
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons apple juice
pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon of sugar

1 bunch of kale, any variety, stems and center ribs removed
1/4 cup honey roasted sliced almonds
1/4 cup raisins
3 green onions, diced
1 large, crisp apple
1/2 cup shaved parmesan cheese

Mix together the dressing ingredients. Slice kale into ribbons. In a mixing bowl, pour dressing over kale and mixed together.Cut apple, peel and all, into julienne slices and mix with kale. Add almonds, raisins, and parmesan cheese and its ready to go!

Paleo Apple Bacon Sliders

It's 7 am and its my day off and I'm hungry. Where is the darn room service when you need it? 

You know what sounds good right now? Grilled cheese on sourdough. With bacon. And cheddar cheese. And an apple sliced up in between it all.

So I drag myself out of a warm bed and creak down the stairs in search of sustenance. I am thinking "coffee". But first I pull out a few sheets of paper towel and lay that on a dinner plate, then top it with the last four slices of bacon and pop it into the microwave for 4 minutes. Now I turn to the bread basket and grab that loaf of sliced sourdough that has been languishing there for over a week. 

What? No! Darn, its all moldy! Into the dumpster it goes. Well, I still have my apples, those ones from SLO Veg. I think they are Fugi's. I grab the two largest ones...yuck.  One is beginning to rot in the center, but the other one is okay. I need to use up the rest of them, pronto!

We only get our basket delivered biweekly now and this is the tail end of the last delivery. Fresh stuff is coming this week. 

I slice the apple thinly into 5 rounds and cut out the tiny core. Then I sprinkle on a handful of grated cheddar cheese. The bacon is ready, so I cut 3 pieces in half, laying each piece on top of the cheese. I have 1-1/2 pieces of bacon leftover, so I eat them! Yum! 

The plate goes into the microwave for one minute to melt the cheese. Then I think, no on the coffee, I will heat up some of that spiced apple cider. Breakfast complete! Back to bed with a tray of gooey apple bacon sliders. I will let Lee have 3 since I ate the extra bacon.♥